Maf Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 This went under the radar because it was in the pre-show but a new game from Yuji Naka and Square I’m in to it, looks fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiofloyd Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 They won me over with the song. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DANGERMAN Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 oh, this is why I saw Yuji Naka being mentioned. I think post Dreamcast his stuff has been a bit hit and miss (apart from Ivy the Kiwi? which was massively underrated). I can't say I like the look of it, although you can see his influence (very NiGHTS at points), but I'm more than willing to give his 3D platformers a chance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DisturbedSwan Posted January 19, 2021 Share Posted January 19, 2021 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maryokutai Posted January 20, 2021 Share Posted January 20, 2021 That's a surprising show of confidence, particularly for the Switch version which, let's be honest, looked absolutely abysmal in the last partner showcase they did. Will try this out though. I think Naka is overrated as a game designer but I will admit that I enjoyed quite a bit of his work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DisturbedSwan Posted January 20, 2021 Share Posted January 20, 2021 I watched a bit of Gameplay last night after posting that news about the demo and it just looks incredibly low budget. It feels like the same visual quality as something like A Hat in Time or something, like a Kickstarter platformer you'd expect to find in some random Steam queue. I expected more from a Square published title. That's not to say that it can't be decent though, but yeah, it's definitely not a visual showpiece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfnick Posted January 20, 2021 Share Posted January 20, 2021 The style is very reminiscent of Nights. I’m interested, will give the demo a try. Good on them for offering one too, if it’s enjoyable it could easily convince me to get it whereas I’d definitely wait otherwise. I’d like a proper 3D platformer at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DisturbedSwan Posted January 20, 2021 Share Posted January 20, 2021 3 minutes ago, mfnick said: I’d like a proper 3D platformer at the moment. Give Sackboy a go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DisturbedSwan Posted January 27, 2021 Share Posted January 27, 2021 Metro: Hands on Preview - The Shadow of Sonic the Hedgehog Quote To be honest we weren’t really clear what Balan Wonderworld was when it was first announced, but having been given advance access to the demo, which will be released publicly on Thursday, January 28, we have a clearer grasp of what it’s all about. Balan Wonderworld is an old school 3D platformer and surprisingly reminiscent of Billy Hatcher And The Giant Egg, our favourite of Naka’s post-Sonic titles, in terms of its simple platforming and reliance on a single, entertaining gimmick. Even when the statutes are involved though the platforming is very basic and the controls rather flat, to the point where it’s obvious this would never keep anyone’s interest as a straight platformer like Super Mario Odyssey. Luckily it doesn’t have to though as the big gimmick is a selection of more than 80 different costumes, which you wear like something out of Fall Guys which all confer very different abilities. The Tasmanian Devil style Toranado Wolf is the first you pick up, which has a spin attack that can deflect tornadoes used by enemies. After that is the kangaroo-like Jumping Jack which allows you to jump further and the Elastiplant which lets you stretch upwards, as if on stilts. The ingredients are all here for a fun, retro style 3D platformer, the sort of thing you could imagine appearing on the GameCube and nobody but you ever seeming to know about it. We’re sure Square Enix are hoping for more than that but the game seems a hard sell for anyone that’s not already a fan of the genre, with very low-tech visuals, an unhelpful camera, and limp combat. Although the local co-op is certainly a welcome option. There is still a charm to Balan Wonderworld – 3D platformers are rare enough that any new one is automatically of interest – but despite the generous length of the demo there’s nothing much to get your teeth into and in gameplay terms it all seems a lot plainer and less exciting than the ideas underpinning it. Hopefully the final game will close that gap but at the very least it’s definitely better than the last several 3D Sonic games. Demo is out tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DisturbedSwan Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DisturbedSwan Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfnick Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 I tried the demo. It’s rubbish. Just doesn’t feel good to play at all, the movement is really slow and just feels off. It’s also really childish, as I’m it doesn’t feel like it’s for adults at all. The idea is sound and having the different abilities set to costumes is interesting, as is the way the world bends and forms around you - used to solve a ball puzzle at one point. But I wouldn’t recommend to anyone over 10 years old based on the demo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DANGERMAN Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 yeah, that's my biggest take away from it, it's a kids game. The tone isn't for me, it's an all singing all dancing version of NiGHTS plot, which loses a lot of the charm for me Same as you Nick, I liked the idea of using the level's curvature to solve a puzzle, there's some good ideas. Maybe the full game is more interesting, if it is I might still pick it up. Chapter 4 opens up when you do chapter 1, so at least that's a later stage to try at some point Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maryokutai Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 I was hoping this would be good despite everything pointing in the other direction but I think this is a borderline trainwreck. I don't want to put too much emphasis on visuals but if a game this ugly runs this poorly in 2021 that's already a bad sign. But nothing you do feels good, the level design is extremely basic with square blocks and rectangular paths reminding me of PS1 platformers before analogue controls were a thing. Switching costumes triggering a short animation makes no sense as it breaks the flow but then again there's little flow to speak of anyway. The minigame with Balan is completely devoid of ideas. I feel a bit bad about the people who designed some of these characters, made the music, did the opening cutscene. There's some heart in some places but the overall game design and direction is not a single step beyond the industries first forays into 3D platforming with all the issues that came with it back in the day. I'm honestly baffled they released a demo for this, it's basically sabotage. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DisturbedSwan Posted February 6, 2021 Share Posted February 6, 2021 Finally got round to playing the demo last night, and wow it’s bad but kind of so bad it’s good? The gaming equivalent of The Room. I kinda guessed it would be bad going in but it somehow managed to surpass my expectations. The cinematics are lovely but everything else is just a nightmare.Visually the hub world just looks horrendous with the blades or grass clipping in and out, the levels themselves look much better though. It’s kind of cool how vibrant it is, the textures or character models are all pretty low rent but the art design of the levels is pretty nice.The controls and camera aren’t great, why is every single button you press X which is also the jump button? It’s just hilarious, did they not know there are other buttons on a controller? ? I don’t get why you lose your character pickups when you get hit either, it’s a bit annoying. The controls and the floatiness of the character just don’t give any feedback at all, nothing feels good, picking up gems should be a cool thing to do but here it just ends up feeling meaningless as there’s no feedback.The character pickups bring quite a lot of variety but them not staying equipped when you get hit and not being readily available around a level once you’ve lost them is annoying. None of them feel particularly great to control but they offer a bit of fun and quite a bit of variety. You also use the pickups to open certain paths in a level to get to collectibles which is why it’s annoying when you lose them.The bonus mini games are just bizarre. There’s the one where you have to press X (of course) over Balan‘s shadow as he flies through the air and then mash the same button when you see loads of shadows. Then there’s the other one where you pick up an upgrade on the ground and your player character suddenly has a football kit on and it just says FOOTBALLER at the top of the screen and you’re sent into a mini game where you have to kick a ball into a goal avoiding a moving clown, I proper belly laughed at this moment, genuinely hilarious. Just so random and weird.It feels as if the Dev Team has completely ignored every other game that’s come out in the last 20 years and this has been made as if it’s 1999. There’s something about it I like though in and I may pick it up once it’s dropped in price. I ended up playing through all 5 levels of the demo and wanted to play more. Spoiler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DisturbedSwan Posted February 20, 2021 Share Posted February 20, 2021 Hahaha this game is so fucking nutty, I love it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DisturbedSwan Posted March 15, 2021 Share Posted March 15, 2021 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DisturbedSwan Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
one-armed dwarf Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 Has an epilepsy trigger apparently on the final boss, but some people think it might actually be a bug https://www.gameinformer.com/2021/03/25/epileptic-psa-balan-wonderworld Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maryokutai Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 It's hard to say with this game because everything looks unpolished but it looks more like a bug than a deliberate visual effect IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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